By Maduka Nweke
The Ministry of Housing, Lagos State, has stepped up the monitoring of physical and environmental state of government-owned housing estates to detect infractions to ensure that situations capable of causing unwholesome damage to infrastructure, aesthetic and general livability are quickly nipped in the bud.
Speaking on the deployment, training and provision of work tools to environmental health and monitoring officers, the Ministry said it is ready to enhance its oversight on all government-owned estates to achieve a safe and sustainable environment.
The Commissioner for Housing, Moruf Akinderu-Fatai stated this while recently inspecting vehicles provided for the Monitoring and Enforcement Unit of the Ministry to boost monitoring of compliance to physical and environmental regulations in government estates.
He said, “the sustainability of all our estates is a task we take seriously and the provision of these vehicles for patrol of Lagos State Government estates is a deliberate action to prevent deterioration as a result of deliberate infractions by residents of government estates”.
He stated that the allottees of government estates are required to observe strict adherence to physical planning laws and obey all laws as regards safety and environmental sustainability. He further reminded residents of government estates that “the obligation of allottees is clearly stated in the letter of allocation and other subsequent documents shared afterwards. That means to ensure total compliance and sustainability of the infrastructural values of the estates”.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Housing Mr Abdulhafis Toriola, explained that the vehicles are assigned to the Monitoring and Enforcement units to make operations easier for the staff. He pointed out that the Ministry has government estates spread across the five divisions of the State and the vehicles are meant to ensure enforcement personnel cover more ground in real time.
“Lagos State Government has commissioned 23 housing estates in the last 6 years and the Ministry has developed strategies to ensure sustainability of all the State Government housing estates spread across the 5 divisions of the State. This sustainability intervention includes appointment of facility managers to ensure coordination of all year maintenance of the estates infrastructure in conjunction with residents. Other innovations include stakeholder engagements, public enlightenment, regular monitoring and enforcement of rules in the estates,” he noted.
Leave a comment